Leonard Okoth was a little out of place Wednesday night.
The McCormick freshman was the only man in a room full of women when the Council of One Hundred, a group of successful female NU alumnae, held its spring networking event.
The discussion focused on female NU students finding jobs in today’s unstable economy.
“I was shocked when I got here,” Okoth said. “I got an e-mail, but I didn’t realize that it was only for women. I didn’t get kicked out, so I decided to stay.”
He still got good advice on applying for jobs, he said.
Thirty-five members of the council and about 50 NU students attended.
The council is an NU club connecting some of NU’s accomplished female alumnae with recent graduates and undergraduate students. Current members include a vice president of Purina, the director of world wide training for Bytemobile and senior vice president for Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Membership for the Council of One Hundred is by invitation only, said Kevin Lole, the group’s liaison. Women can only be invited after being nominated and approved by its executive board.
Membership remains between 90 and 115 women, and they try to keep it under 120 at any given time, he said.
“In the process, we consider diversity in all aspects,” Lole said. “(NU) schools, race, age and majors all play an important role in making a decision.”
After becoming a member, councilwomen are expected to attend at least one of the two annual Council of One Hundred campus events, as well as a regional event in one of seven to 10 cities nationwide, and pay their dues, said Diane Dawson, Medill ’76 and one of the council’s chair.
In addition to providing NU female students the opportunity to network with successful women, the council strives to form strong relationships with students, Dawson said.
“What makes us unique is that we go for the one-on-one relationships,” Dawson said. “A lot of times our members will have connections with our students for two or three years.”
The council also offers students paid internships, which Dawson said is the Council of One Hundred offers that to other campus mentoring organizations do not.
The councilwomen who attended Wednesday night’s event were successful professionally, but their accomplishments did not always line up with their fields of study at NU, they said in a panel discussion during the evening.
“I have a degree in early childhood and sociology,” said Ce Cole Dillon, a council member who is a manager with the Oracle Corporation. “I had no interest in teaching, though. I wanted to go to law school. I wanted to practice technology law. It sounded sexy.”
Weinberg sophomore Lauren Ammons said she enjoyed attending an event geared toward female students.
“I like just having women speaking because they can discuss the issues affecting women,” she said, “especially the opportunities and struggles we might face as women.”
Dillon told students it is not important if they do not stay in the industry they chose while in college.
“It doesn’t matter how you get here,” Dillon said. “It only matters that you get here.”
